Dummy keep or go?

[Babysafari]

Ds is coming up to 12 months. He's had a dummy since the start because he was refluxy and unsettled a lot.

He's never been a brilliant sleeper and we ended up cosleeping part way through the night. Lately though he does seem to have got loads better and sleeps right through more often than not. He naps during the day too, all good.

I thought we might have got rid of the dummy by now. He only has it for bed but he does keep it in all night from what I can tell. He's got a big gap in his front teeth. May not even be dummy related, who knows.

I've been trying to get him to take to a comfort blanket but he isn't interested, he throws it out of the cot more often!

Can I have opinions/experiences from both sides? Those who have ditched the dummy and those who have kept it and what the outcome was?

Mine have all kept a dummy for sleep time until they were emotionally ready to not need any comfort to go to sleep - which was somewhere around 3-4 years old.

I very much doubt he keeps his dummy in all night. To hold a dummy in the mouth requires active suction and for the jaw muscles to hold it in the mouth. Both these mechanism relax and do not function once asleep.

A dummy is usually sucked as a means to get to sleep not to stay asleep. Dropping off to sleep takes around 10 minutes or so. I bet half an hour after your DS has gone to sleep you could go and fetch the dummy out of the cot and it wouldn't be used the rest of the night.

I don't much see a problem with 10 minutes to get to sleep and that being it for dummy use.

The problems come from those parents who stick a dummy in their older child's mouth all the chuffing time.

Well that's reassuring. He does seem to have it stuck in when we check on him, but perhaps he just looks for it when he stirs.

The only time it becomes a problem is when he's grissly or getting tired, dh will suggest getting his dummy whereas I'm quite rigid about him only having it for bed. It feels a bit mean, as if he sucked his thumb or attached to a comfort toy, he'd have that whenever he wanted.

He can also get a bit upset when he sees another baby with a dummy and will try to grab it if he gets close enough! Obviously not a big problem but can be a bit annoying at a baby group or something.

If we go for a day out and it gets dropped or forgotten. Those are my only concerns with it really.